Emily took me to see Watchmen on Friday as a birthday present. I'm sure many will be quick to disagree with me on this one... as far as capturing the essence of the book, they nailed it. They trimmed some of the fat, and did what I would assume would be the best adaptation that anyone could do. I know that there was great care taken to stay as faithful to the source material as possible. In an interview I read, Zak Snyder mentioned that the studio was planning on updating the story. Well, Zak made sure that didn't happen, and for that I am grateful. Seeing a movie with classic characters in a WAR AGAINST TERROR? Not for me.

Anyway, the story is about the same as in the book, except for some tweaks that, for better or worse, make the ending the same. Many parts had the characters reciting some dialogue verbatim. That was really neat to experience. A lot of the more recognizable scenes from the book were picture perfect on the screen. Other scenes were augmented to give it more Hollywood action, which quite frankly didn't bother me in the least. Nevertheless, I realize that there would be no way to keep every scene from the book in the film. To please everyone on such a grand scale would just be an exercise in futility. It bugged me, though, that they didn't keep Hollis Mason's murder. To me, that just seemed like a cop-out. I'd rather keep THAT in the film than see a climactic "squid" scene. (I still have mixed feelings on that omission, but it's not really worth it.) And at least they saved the "Black Freighter" stuff for a separate release. I have to admit, while reading the book, having a comic book within a comic book that would just pop up without warning just to be a pretentious and elaborate stab at metaphoric symbolism was unnecessary and confusing.

Rorschach stole all the scenes he was in. He was my favorite character from in the book since he's so messed up. To see him do his thing was amazing. All the other characters were well-developed except for Silk Spectre II. The Comedian comes across even more loathsome than before. Doctor Manhattan was captured perfectly. I have read elsewhere that people felt uneasy at the sight of him, mostly because of his nudity throughout. That's how you are supposed to feel when you see him, though. Basically, if you think that a big blue dick is your utmost concern when you're confronted by him, then you are missing the point.

Other good things from my notes:+ Richard Nixon looked hilarious. Excellent caricature of him.+ The montage during the intro credits was breathtaking.

Other bad things from my notes:- Another example of Hollywood commercialism running rampant was apparent during the end credits over which My Chemical Romance played the Bob Dylan song, "Desolation Row". Seriously, there was no reason to have that in there. It's a good thing that there's no more cinematography going on by the time the song plays, because if there was, the movie would be utterly ruined.- Although he will never know how good it turned out, Alan Moore is going to reject this film no matter what. And that's sad.

Final assessment: Emily always gives me the best time on my birthdays. Ever since I've known her. The fact that we could agree on how truly awesome this movie is, even though she never read the original work, is a real testament to how you don't necessarily fuck up the integrity of art by giving it broader appeal.